On April 28, 2021, after President Iván Duque submitted the Tax Reform bill before the Congress of the Republic, a massive citizen protest movement—known as the National Strike—took off in Colombia. From then until June 15, marches and activities were officially called in different cities throughout the country.

Amid this panorama of social and democratic unrest, the rallies and marches were scenes of confrontations between protesters and law enforcement (note that the Police are a national organization part of the armed forces), including armed civilians supporting the Police.

Simultaneously, on some social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok, people began to post claims and videos about alleged human rights violations against demonstrators. Publications documenting the excessive use of force by law enforcement against demonstrators or the attacks by citizens on law enforcement and local infrastructure went viral.

We help you understand what happened during the #ColombianSocialProtests in the digital context during the early 2021. Download our report Guns versus Cell